Raising questions about fake news

Concerns have been expressed about the quality of information available in the public sphere, often under the label ‘fake news’, and the impact of unreliable information on public discourse, and indeed the operation of democracy. The best approach to tackling the perceived prevalence of misinformation is, however, not clear. This article considers three preliminary questions given the background of freedom of expression: what is fake news; if regulation is appropriate, who would be regulated; and what form of regulation should be adopted.